Stuffed Peppers OR Punjene paprike

 

I sorted out my image posting problems, thanks to the kind people who replied to my pleas! Once again, thanks, people! Here is a post, long overdue, that I prepared ages ago, but I’m posting it only now.

Stuffed vegetables are hugely popular in my part of the world: courgette, aubergine, sometimes tomatoes, but above all – peppers (punjene paprike in Croatian). Basically, uncooked peppers are stuffed with a mixture of beef (and sometimes pork) and uncooked rice. The peppers are then placed in a big pan, and covered with very smooth tomato sauce, to simmer until done. Every cook has his or her own variant of the recipe, adding a bit of this, and a bit of that, too add their own personal touch. This is how my mum makes stuffed peppers (punjene paprike).

Stuffed peppers were my favourite dish when I was growing up. I used to break the pepper in half, scoop out the meat, eat it, and leave the pepper ’skin’ on my plate! Nowadays I know better, and eat the pepper, too! I love the combination of meat, pepper and tomato sauce. I love to dip bread in the sauce, or a piece of potato. This makes me smile already! Gosh, I had this this a few days ago, and I’m craving it already!

This is not a quick dish, but it is well worth the time. The peppers taste great the next day, too, so we often make a larger quantity. We did this this time, too, and had it the next day, too! Yum! Lucky me! We – I mean mainly mum! I was busy taking photos and making notes, during which mum was wonderfully patient! I thought she’d chase me out of the kitchen, me and my clicking, and moving the dishes around! - Thank you, mum!

 

Stuffed Peppers / Punjene paprike

SOURCE: mum’s recipe

PREPARATION TIME: 20 – 30 min

COOKING TIME: 2 – 2.5 h

CUISINE: Croatian

SERVES: 14*

 

INGREDIENTS

14 large peppers*

STUFFING

1 kg beef mince

0.5 kg pork mince

1 small bulb of garlic, finely chopped or crushed

2 eggs

1 mug of rice (uncooked)

a small bunch of fresh parsley

some bread crumbs

a little oil

salt, pepper,

vegeta (optional)

TOMATO SAUCE**

Recipe HERE.

METHOD:

I. Tomato sauce

• Prepare the tomato sauce first, if you don’t have it already made. (I’ll post the recipe soon.)

II. Prepare the peppers

• Now prepare the peppers. Wash them, and remove the core and the seeds. See photo below.

III. Stuffing

•  Mix the ingredients for the stuffing together in a bowl. Adjust the seasoning.

 

IV. Stuff the peppers

• Stuff the peppers with the mixture, but do not overfill.

V. Assembling and cooking

• Place the peppers in a pan, with the opening pointing upwards (see photo below).

• Pour the tomato sauce over the peppers. Simmer for 2 – 2.5 hours. Add some flour mixed with water to thicken the sauce to the desired consistency.

• Serve with boiled potatoes, or mashed potato.

NOTES

* If you are using large peppers, allow one per person per serving. If you’re using small peppers, allow 2 per person per serving. We got 14 servings out of these peppers.

** We normally make it in advance.

Suggestions

You can use beef mince only. Mum sometimes adds cubes of pancetta to the sauce.

Why not use a mixture of your favourite spices to spice up the mince? I might do that myself, although there is nothing wrong with going simple, and enjoying the tastes of the meat, and the vegetables just the way they are!

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Verdict

As I said, this used to be one of my favourite dishes when I was growing up. I still like it a lot! What more can I say? Do try this recipe!

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